The Lady of Dragons
by misguidedmah
Summary: Juliet is a Targaryen, and Romeo is a Baratheon. They meet at a masquerade, and want to be together, but their families are enemies. What happens then, only the Old Gods can tell.


**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** _This fanfiction was an experiment I did with a classmate as our final paper for an English Literature course in university earlier this year. Both my classmate and my professor have allowed me to post this here, and share our text with other fans of both Geroge R. R. Martin and William Shakespeare's work. We have enjoyed writing, and we hope you enjoy reading it!  
_

 **THE LADY OF DRAGONS**

It was an afternoon and Juliet stood on the balcony of her bedroom looking at the vast garden of her father. The afternoon was pleasant: a wet breeze passed through the air. Juliet was wearing a long back coat done in red silk with golden scrollwork and a long skirt in yellow gold silk. She liked to spend time resting on the balcony railing just looking at the empty gardens. In front of her towered a statue in solid gold of her great-grandfather, Aegon Targaryen. _The last one to ride a dragon_ , she thought.

Her father was about to give a masquerade ball to the whole nobility of the region, and she was in no mood to dance with millions of men eager to marry her. All across the garden and in the whole house, servants carried enormous trays of food, flowerpots and items of clothing. They worked like little ants, and even though it was not their fault, they were disturbing the scenery. There was no tranquility where there was so much work. They passed by the statue like its grandiosity didn't affect them anymore, and she thought how could they be so oblivious to the greatness of one such as Aegon Targaryen, even so long after his departure from this world.

Her nurse walked through the door of the big bedroom in a great mood. So great was the nurse's mood that Juliet felt forced to smile back at her.

\- We needeth to prepareth thou f'r the masqu'rade ball of thy hon'rable fath'r, mine lady - said the nurse so proud of her words.

\- I am not in the humour f'r balls - answered Juliet.

She knew her words wouldn't have much of a real effect on facts, but she felt the emotional effect they had on her poor nurse, whose excitement extinguished, like the fire of a blown candle. The nurse had for Juliet the same feelings she'd have nurtured for her own daughter, had she had one. Juliet quickly apologized, and held the nurse's hands on her own. The old woman lightened up again, and directed Juliet for her bath, while she prepared the dress the girl was supposed to wear that night.

\- Careful, Juliet. The watereth is v'ry hot. Thou may burneth yourself!

Juliet did not care, the heat did not hurt her skin. The almost boiling water felt smooth against her body, and she enjoyed the bath for as long as she could. When the nurse called her out to have her hair combed and braided, she hesitated for a few minutes, but finally bid farewell to the comfort of the water, and went to the room, where the nurse would groom her. She put on the very light, silky blue dress and went for the mask she was supposed to wear. It was a piece of light metal with feathers all over its surface. She disliked the feathers, but not more than she disliked the tight braids the nurse was making in her hair. She liked the way the braids looked, but the feeling of having her hair pulled was painful. Being groomed was hurtful. Once she was properly dressed, and her hair was properly braided, she left her bedroom to accompany the preparations for the ball in the rest of the house

The ball would start in the early evening, so everything must be in its own place by then. When Juliet left her bedroom she saw two servants walking down the hall holding two boxes of candles, which were going to be placed on the chandeliers of the Great Hall. She heard a quick greeting of one of the servants, but she ignored and walked the opposite way from them. She wants to see her mother first...

Her mother, a very personable lady of joyful aspects for a 49-year-old woman, was sitting by the dressing table brushing her long silver-blond hair. Juliet leaned on the door frame to admire her mother.

\- Cometh in, mine sweet daught'r - said Lady Naerys Capuleto. Thou looketh so beautiful, so elegant, just as a Targaryen shouldst be.

\- Aye, moth'r.

\- What is w'rrying thou, mine daught'r?

\- This ball of crap! It will be full of corky men drooling on top of me. and, - she made

a pause - oh God, mine fath'r wants me to marryeth one of those men.

\- Daught'r, we art distaff. We cannot chooseth who will be our husband, but we can chooseth who will be our loveth.

Juliet took a deep breath and looked away from her mother.

\- Wilt i goeth?

\- Ye are ready and beautiful. Of course thou wilt goeth! Who knows what this masqu'rade ball hath res'rv'd f'r thou, mine sweetie.

Juliet was apprehensive, and her talk with her mother had done nothing to cease the suffering. She felt too young to be condemned to marry some old stranger. Worse, a stranger to be chosen by her father, who seemed to have the sensibility of a crocodile. He was a loving father, but all the love could not change his nature. He wanted Juliet to be well placed in society, and for that he had to marry her to someone.

The ball was a confusion of strangers moving all around the Great Hall of Juliet's house. Not even the people she knew were recognizable, because of all the masks. She felt inadequate and alone, but enjoyed the freedom of walking around without being recognized. She passed by people in strange costumes, and gowns that matched their masks, and laughed at the bad taste of some of the masks. She knew her freedom would be over the minute her father decided it was time she was introduced to the crowd, so she enjoyed every single minute, even dancing a little bit.

In one of her rounds on the enormous Great Hall, a gentleman with a stag mask bumped over her shoulder, and she lost her balance to the point of almost falling.

'Apologies, mine lady', he said, pulling her by her hand so she didn't actually fall.

Her first thought should have been how distasteful it was of him to come with a stag mask to a Targaryen ball, knowing her family's hatred for the Baratheons, and their betrayal, wanting to dispose of the Targaryen kingship. But then, he had just saved her from falling, and he had beautiful golden eyes that made her forget all the rest. Could it be that he was one of the candidates for husband? If he was, she would pray to the Seven, that her father would pick him as her husband. _What am I thinking_ , she realized. _A pair of beautiful golden eyes are no reason for me to marry a man._ Then, she answered him.

'It's fine, mine lord. thank thou f'r giving me thy hand, I would hast fallen without it.', said Juliet, with no intention of continuing the conversation, almost blushing from her absurd thoughts of marrying a stranger for liking his eyes.

'If I profane with my unworthiest hand this holy shrine, the gentle fine is this: my lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.', he answered, in a move she deemed almost inappropriate. Was he really suggesting kissing her in excuse for tumbling over her?

She, then, touched her palm against his, starting the movements of the dance for the piece the musicians had just started playing.

'Good pilgrim, thou doth wrong thy hand too much, which mannerly devotion shows in this; f'r saints hast hands that pilgrims' hands doth touch, and palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss', Juliet said, trying to avoid being kissed by the nice eyed stranger, fooling him into believing a palms kiss was enough.

'Hast not saints lips, and holy palmers too?', he asked, prolonging the conversation more than she ever wanted.

'Ay, pilgrim, lips that they wilt lay-to in prayer.', insisted Juliet, sending him to pray for the Seven, and leave her soul alone with her freedom, each second closer to be over.

'O, then, dear saint, let lips doth what hands doth; they pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.', he said, interesting Juliet a little bit more in his talk. Her moment of self punishment for considering marrying him was over, and she was ready to have a little fun with her newfound friend, even though he was still a stranger with a distasteful stag mask.

'Saints doth not move, though grant f'r prayers' sake.', said the now interested young Juliet, trying to find out how far the stranger would go, when she was surprised by both words and actions.

'Then move not, while mine prayer's effect I take. Thus from mine lips, by thine, mine sin is purg'd.', he said, and then kissed her tenderly, just enough for their lips to meet, and for her to miss it when his mouth was gone.

'Then hast mine lips the sin that they hast took.', Juliet said, hoping that he'd take the hint, and kiss her again.

'Sin from thy lips? O trespass sweetly urged! Give me mine sin again.', he said, kissing her again, leaning on her lips for a second more than the last time. That was enough to have Juliet's heart pounding heavily against her ribs.

'Thou kiss by the book.', she was saying, when the nurse appeared out of nowhere, with a message from her mother.

'Madam, thy mother craves a word with thou.', said the old lady, expecting Juliet to follow her.

The girl, still astonished by the kisses and the talk with that golden eyed stranger, turned around to follow the nurse, but got surprised by a hand holding hers.

'I need to see you again. When can I see you again, my lady?'

He was holding her hand, trying to guarantee a second meeting, and that golden eyes staring deep into her soul left her no doubt.

'Find me under my balcony, before the sun rises. I'll be waiting.', she said, not knowing if he knew she was Juliet of House Targaryen, but certain that he would find her.

'I'll bring you a gift', he said, letting go of her hand, and being dragged by the dancing crowd away from her, who was already following the nurse again.

The presence of his hand on hers remained for the entire ball, and while she danced with other men, it was of him that she was thinking. She danced with dozens of candidates, but she couldn't recall either one of them. Not their masks, nor their names or their eye colors. All she could think of were a pair of golden eyes in a stag mask coming to visit her in her balcony before dawn.

When the ball was almost over, she overheard her cousin Tybalt rambling about some intruder. It was disinteresting, until he said he was the 'bloody Romeo Baratheon with a stupid stag mask', which made Juliet put all the facts in her head into a certainty. Her golden eyed stranger was indeed a Baratheon, and her affections had been given to a name she was made to hate.

Juliet tried to rest her thoughts, and forget the interaction she had with Romeo Baratheon. By now, he probably also knew she was a Targaryen, and wouldn't risk his life to come visit her under her balcony. The best she had to do was sleep, and forget that happy night had ever happened.

She couldn't sleep though, because there was too much going on in her mind. Why was he a Baratheon? Why had they met in that way? Why did she like him so much? While she thought of all these questions, a noise of pebbles hitting the floor of her balcony called her attention. She went to the balcony, only to find a Baratheon with golden eyes standing under it, near a medium wooden box with carvings which she couldn't quite decipher from distance. Not seeming to fear the guards or the men in the house, Romeo spoke loud enough so she could hear from the distance in between them.

'But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is my lady, o, it is my love! O, that she knew she were! She speaks yet she says nothing: what of that? See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand! O, that I were a glove upon that hand, that I might touch that cheek!'

He spoke of love, and of beauty, and all Juliet could think of was the stag and the name of the Baratheons, that he carried since brith. Romeo Baratheon. He couldn't have been anyone else. He had to be a Baratheon.

'O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Targaryen.', said she, thinking out loud, and projecting her desire that her love was not a Baratheon, and that she was not a Targaryen.

'Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?'

''Tis but thy name that is my enemy; Thou art thyself, though not a Baratheon. What's Baratheon? it is nor hand, nor foot, nor arm, nor face, nor any other part belonging to a man. O, be some other name! What's in a name? that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet; So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd, retain that dear perfection which he owes without that title. Romeo, doff thy name, and for that name which is no part of thee take all myself.'

Juliet had confessed her desires to him, and expected an answer from her interlocutor.

'I take thee at thy word: Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized; Henceforth I never will be Romeo.', he said, wishing to satisfy her every wish, and no longer be a Baratheon. They would be Love, and love would be their name, so no family hate could get in the way.

Romeo then proceeded to the box by his side on the floor. He got closer to Juliet's balcony, and tried raising the very heavy box to her. Noticing it to be almost impossible, due to the height of the balcony and his own weakness, he opened the box. Juliet glanced inside of the box, where she could see three oval shapes, with edgy scales, reflecting the moonlight.

'They are dragon eggs', he said. 'I thought it was fair that the great-granddaughter of Aegon Targaryen should have them.'

She was mesmerized, and tears of joy rose to her eyes. Dragon eggs! Juliet didn't even know they still existed, and there they were, shining for her.

'They have turned to stone, due to aging. But they are still very pretty. I think their glow matches your eyes, my lady.', he continued, and she cried, out of the happiness of having been given dragon eggs.

She had never felt closer to her family, and her blood boiled to the idea of touching the eggs she had just been given. She wanted to climb down the balcony and kiss her gifter. She wanted to scream, but she knew she couldn't risk waking up the whole house.

'Come up here', she said, 'and let me thank you, my lord. Hide the eggs in a shrub and come up here, my love.'

Romeo hid the box in a shrub, as instructed, and proceeded to climb to Juliet's balcony. It wasn't very difficult, but he didn't look down, because the balcony was very high, and he was very scared of falling down. He got into the balcony, and was received by a wet Juliet, covered in tears and smiles. He kissed her once again, just as he had done in the ball, but this time he was received with a hug from his loved one, who squeezed him tight against her body, while their lips collapsed.

'Thank you, thank you, thank you', she said. 'I thought you were not coming, after finding out who I was, and with the risk of getting caught by all the guards.'

'I have night's cloak to hide me from their sight; And but thou love me, let them find me here: My life were better ended by their hate, than death prorogued, wanting of thy love.', he said, holding her hands in his, enjoying the feeling of being together once again.

They were both so happy of being together that they forgot to hold down the tone of their voices, and the conversation went on like nothing existed beyond them. Romeo and Juliet, lovers from enemy families, who were willing to forget that hatred to be together.

But it wasn't long before their conversation awoke someone. The nurse was a light sleeper, and worried that Juliet might be in danger, she entered the room in her nightgown. The old woman got shocked by finding a man in her lady's chamber, and screamed loudly for the guards.

'Guards, help, an intruder in Lady Juliet's room! Somebody help! It's a Baratheon!', the woman screamed, surprising the young couple, and waking up the entire house.

Juliet tried helping Romeo to leave, but the nurse had raised awareness in the entire house, and guards were waiting with spears outside of her room and under her balcony. She tried protecting him by standing between the guards and her lover, but nothing could be done. The trained man were stronger than her, and they easily removed her from the way, taking Romeo from the room by force, and leaving her alone with her tears.

Juliet spent the day in her bedroom thinking about what happened in the early hours. She did not remember having slept, most likely she had not done it. She could only think of Romeo: _I wonder what happened to my poor Romeo?_ , she thought.

The shadow of what could happen with her love made her shiver. A Baratheon infiltrated inside the Targaryen's house; Juliet's father would never approve of their love: _what a fate is this life_ …

Juliet did not come out of her bedroom all day, nor responded when her mother called her. She preferred to remain isolated from the world and all people, just watching the statue of Aegon Targaryen in the vast garden of her father. She remembered what Romeo had told her about the dragon eggs in the bush near the statue. _What would I do with three petrified eggs of dragon?_

By mid-afternoon, Juliet realized that she was tired - due to the fact of not having slept since the incident with Romeo - and decided to get some rest. During her sleep, she had a red dream, in which a monster on fire circled Juliet and kept her away from Romeo. When the creature went up into the air and came down like a red comet, she knew what was going to happen. She tried to wake herself up from the dream, but she failed. She tried to change the dream, but it was in vain. That fireball fell on her lover, crumbling him like a simple piece of rotten wood.

Juliet woke up gasping, it was night. She needed to see Romeo, she needed to take him off of that crypt and to get away from that place, and she needed the dragon eggs… She was not sure why, but she knew that red dream had something to do with the petrified eggs.

She quickly got up from her bed, put on a long hooded black cloak and went to the balcony. She thought of walking out the door, but someone could be there waiting for her, to take her straight to her parents. _I cannot take the risk,_ she thought. _I'm going out through the balcony. If Romeo managed to climb it, surely I can go down the balcony._

And so Juliet did. She grabbed and climbed the iron railing. She pulled on the first foot on the wooden frame where roses grew. She must have ripped her dress or cape, but she was not caring about it, she needed to save Romeo.

When she reached the ground, more than quickly she ran to the bush where Romeo had hidden the eggs. She pulled the box and opened it. There they were, the three petrified eggs. For a moment she hesitated to catch them, but then she remembered the red dream and how that fireball had crumbled her lover. So, she took the eggs and went through the garden.

Juliet entered the Targaryen's crypt through a long tunnel, and went down the hall full of light fixtures (some on and others off).

'Romeo? Where art thou Romeo?'

She did not hear nothing but the sound of her heels against the marble floor. That made her more anxious. She walked a little further and stopped...

Juliet let the dragon eggs fall from her hands, doing three separate noises when crashing to the ground. The tomb of Aegon Targaryen was already dark by the blood that had drained. Over the tomb was Romeo's body, stretched with a hanging arm. Over him there was a large bust with the heads of three dragons with their jaws open, and it perished wanting to swallow Romeo's body.

She approached the body of her lover, and then she finally saw the holes in his clothes, already soaked with his blood. He was no longer breathing, nor was his heart beating. Juliet's heart was the only heart still beating in that crypt.

She gave Romeo one last kiss, hoping that the gesture would wake him up, which did not happen. In tears, Juliet ran through the halls breaking all the fixtures, leaving the oil to drench the walls, tombs and floor of the crypt.

'I will not live without my Romeo!', she proclaimed as she took a torch and went on towards Romeo's body.

The red dream came true when Juliet let the torch hit the ground. The entire crypt was on fire, then Juliet hugged her Romeo and closed her eyes.

When she opened her eyes again, she did not believe when she found herself living, breathing and unburned. She was naked, as her clothes were incinerated in the fire. Romeo was no longer with her either, but she was alive. _I have dragon blood,_ she thought, _the heat could not hurt me._

From the darkest part of the crypt, she heard a soft sound, a shriek, muffled by the sounds of the crepitating remains of the crypt. As she approached, she was startled: the eggs had hatched.


End file.
